1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of game teaching and playing apparatus.
2. Prior Art
Numerous games requiring the play of two or more persons such as chess seem to have an almost perpetual popularity. In that regard, reference to chess herein is done only for exemplary purposes, as the preferred embodiment is in relation to the game of chess though, as shall subsequently be seen in greater detail, the apparatus of the present invention is very readily adaptable to other games wherein an individual player replies to the moves of one or more opponents with a move of his own selected from a large number of possible moves (checkers being but one example of other games of the same category). Further, the word "move" as used herein is used in the general sense to denote not only a physical move as a characteristic of the games of chess, checkers and the like, but to also denote any form of reply action, bid or strategy dependent upon the particular game in question. However, since the exemplary embodiment disclosed herein is in relation to the game of chess, the prior art described herein and the problems therewith will be described more specifically in relation to that game.
A great amount of information is available in book form relating to the game of chess. However, such materials are somewhat limited in their interest and effectiveness because they do not form or provide any "play action" for the reader, or provide any method of evaluating the reader in comparison to an assumed level of play for the reader. In order to attempt to provide the play action, various types of apparatus have been devised which will allow a solitary player to first select his move, and then compare his move to the proper or preferred move for the particular board condition. By way of example, a chess training aid and solitaire playing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,914. The person using this device, after carefully studying the arrangement of the chess pieces, will make his moves according to his best judgment. Then by referring to the device there will be indicated the best possible move under the circumstances, together with an indication of the reason for the particular move. However no relative merit between the best possible move under the circumstances and the move selected by the player is indicated, and no form of scorekeeping, particularly with respect to individual move selections, is provided. Accordingly the device simply presents generally the same type of information available in book form without providing any substantial play action. Similarly, in the chess machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,463, apparatus is provided to allow the replaying of the games of the masters without reference to a book through the use of a program card used in conjunction with the chess machine, again merely allowing the sequencing of the machine through specific moves without comment or evaluation with respect to alternate moves the machine user might have chosen. Other devices of this same general type are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,647,749 and 3,579,856.
A still further example of the general type of device hereinbefore described is that of U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,318, that specific device utilizing a stack of program cards maintained below the board with each of the cards containing a board setting. Accordingly movement of the chess pieces is sequentially indicated by successive removal of the upper program card, exposing the card therebelow indicating the next board setting.
Other examples of amusement and/or educational devices of background interest are those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,048,403 and 3,097,435. However none of the prior art devices provide any apparatus for evaluation of alternate moves selected by a player, or the assessment of the relative merit of such alternative moves, particularly in a manner allowing the maintenance of a score as the game progresses. Also, obviously none of the prior art devices allow the use of a single set of program cards for play at various levels of skill.